Konoha X
by EthanXMW
Summary: How can konohamaru, the beloved hokage's son, face doing the Genin exam when he hasnt trained in 6 months? And will Hinata make a move on Naruto during the Jounin exam? AN this is my first fanfic please R&R, hope you enjoy! KonoMoegi and NaruHina pairing
1. Chapter 1

**Konoha X**

_**Part I: Konohamaru's getting old!**_

Konohamaru stared longingly at the girl in front of him. Her long wavy hair crept past her shoulders, almost reaching the bottom of her pale back. It was a fiery red colour, a colour that was somehow reflected in her passionate spirit. She was loosely turning a kunai in her hand, and breathing heavily – catching her breath back from her rigorous training. After a few seconds she launched herself into the air. She chucked the kunai at a target attached to the tree, the same tree that Konohamaru was hiding behind. He flinched, hoping she had not seen him – he often followed her, just to watch her and smell her. She produced six more kunai from her belt. She twisted and twirled in the air, sending kunais hurtling through the air, each one perfectly meeting their intended target. It looked as though she was dancing in the sky, like a leaf lost in the wind. Konohamaru was mesmerized by her movements, all he could see was her, the girl that represented everything he's always wanted. The soft thud of her landing brought Konohamaru back to reality.

"What are you doing Konohamaru?" The girl said without even turning her head. At the sound of this Konohamaru's face erupted in red. He could not believe he'd let her see him!

"I umm…, err…" He spluttered as he slowly walked out from behind the safety of the tree.

"If you want help training for the Genin exam tomorrow you could have just asked." She said turning to face her best friend. He backed away, and looked down at the floor.

"Err yeah, that's it," He said, seizing the escape route she had handed him, "Sorry, I was just too embarrassed to ask."

"Don't worry about it!" She smiled sweetly at the boy in front of her, "How's your transformation technique and your shadow clone technique, you need them to pass the preliminary exam!"

"Umm, not great…"

"Oh dear, do you know the right seals?"

"Kind of. You're getting really good now Moegi-sama"

Moegi smiled at him "thanks!" Konohamaru went even redder and looked down at his shoes awkwardly. To his surprise, Moegi grabbed his wrist gently.

"Come on" She said, laughing "I'm not having you fail tomorrow!"

* * *

Konohamaru looked down despairingly at the half-dead clone beside him. His face was a mixture of tiredness and frustration. Him and Moegi had been training for three hours, yet Konohamaru had not been able to produce a single decent clone or transform into anything almost close to the Hokage. In fact the closest he'd come was a hairy dwarf, but at least it was female! His shadow clone technique was slightly more successful, yet they were still far from exam standard. Moegi, who could make five clones at once and transform into anything, was also beginning to lose patience.

"KONOHAMARU!" She shouted after seeing his latest attempt "Why did you not ask for help six months ago!"

Konohamaru sighed, he'd been wondering the same question. He knew the answer though – six months ago was when he first discovered his new found love for her. He can remember that exact day. They were just lying down, gazing at the stars and talking. Her laugh began to make his stomach do somersaults and he desperately tried to make her laugh all night. He began acting like an idiot, but it was just because he longed to impress her. He began to become transfixed by her deep blue eyes, and the innocent looks she gave him made his whole body shiver. Yet now he was far from impressing her. To her he was pathetic, he couldn't even do the simplest of Jutsu when she had mastered Genin level techniques. But worst of all, it had just dawned on him that he would be split apart from her. If he didn't pass then she would meet loads of new Genin friends while he was forced to retake an academy year. She wouldn't get to see him improve, and he wouldn't get to see her… at all. He got so caught up in his love for her that he stopped training completely. He used to just take it for granted that because of his father he would become a great ninja, and so did everyone else. He began to care much less about schoolwork and training and much more about hanging out with his friends, especially Moegi. And now, like a slap around the face, he had been viciously confronted with the almost certainty of failure.

"Moegi-sama, what should I do?" Konohamaru said, burying his head in his hands. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, making his body tingle.

"Try again"

"But I've been trying all evening and I'm getting nowhere!"

"Well that's what I did. Just practised, and I got better. If you want my opinion, I think the only way to truly improve is practice."

"There's always flukes!"

"You shouldn't rely on flukes Konohamaru" She said disapprovingly, shaking her head. But then her face twisted into a smile "but it would be great if you pulled one off!" Konohamaru smiled faintly, but didn't say anything. He turned around and walked a bit away. His face was now filled with a look of pure determination. He released all the thoughts of Moegi, all his worries about the exam and all the growing thoughts about food from his mind. He then concentrated all his energy on the task at hand. He didn't rush this time like he usually does, instead he controlled his breathing and made himself sense everything around him and inside him. For the first time in his life he could feel the chakra running through his veins and he could sense where each tenketsu was on his body. He felt as though he could make this strange thing within him do whatever he wanted and, for the first time, he really felt in control of his body. Almost subconsciously he began forming the seals needed to perform the Shadow Clone technique perfectly. As he made the final seal he forced all of his chakra to surge towards his hands. A faint 'poof' was heard and a cloud of smoke appeared just next to him. As the wind whisked the smoke away, to Konohamaru's and Moegi's great surprise, another Konohamaru was revealed. It was not a perfect clone but it was standing and, if you squinted, they looked almost identical.

"KONOHAMARU!" Moegi shouted, but this time not because of disappointment and anger but because of glee and of course shock. She wrapped her arms around him with such force Konohamaru was almost knocked off his feet. He just stood there dumbfounded as she squeezed his body with pride. His face grew redder the longer she stayed there. She weakened her grip but did not let go entirely, instead she just stayed there, her soft arms wrapped around his waist. Her sweet scent filled his nostrils, and he could feel her warm breath against his neck. All his senses were alert, and every hair on his body was stood on end. His heart beat fast and his body tingled with a mixture of nerves and excitement. He looked down at the girl pressed against his chest, and met her gaze. Just for a moment, he felt as though she felt the same way about him…

"MOEGI! DINNER TIME!" The sudden interruption took them both by surprise. They tore away from each other as fast as possible. Konohamaru buried his hands deep into his pockets and looked everywhere but at her. Both of them looked embarrassed and this time, Konohamaru was not the only one who was red.

"Anyway, I better go…" Moegi muttered. Konohamaru was glad she had broken the silence but sad she had to leave.

"Err yeah, see you around" Konohamaru said unable to look her in the eye.

"Yeah, bye" She said, and with that ran towards the intruding voice.

* * *

Konohamaru slid down the tree trunk, and sat exhausted on the floor. The last few rays of sun danced across his face, he closed his eyes to shield the blare. A bead of sweat dripped off a brown spike of hair and slid down his face. Konohamaru was now 13, he had grown a lot taller and stronger in the last six years. He'd ditched the hat and cape and opted for usually a tight red top and brown spiky hair. He was an athletic build and looked old for his age. He had been training for six hours now. He'd almost mastered the shadow clone technique but was nowhere near getting the transformation technique. He buried his head in his hands and let a single tear slide down his face, he was almost giving up hope. He sat back and thought of all the people he cared about. His first thought was not of Moegi but of his father – the third Hokage. He remembered his kind eyes and the way he smiled at him, even when he was being told off. He remembered the wrinkles that formed at the corner of his eyes when he looked at him with such endearment. But most of all he remembered his spirit and his love for Konoha – he believed that the village was a big family and that everyone must look after one another. He thought the backbone of the village was the ninja's and believed that Konohamaru would become one of those ninjas, a great ninja. Yet Konohamaru was letting him down. He then thought about Uzumaki Naruto - his friend and almost brother. Naruto had taught Konohamaru all he knew, and Konohamaru trusted and relied on him more than anyone else. Naruto never gave up, even when the whole village turned him into an outcast, he built a life, he got acknowledged. Yet Konohamaru was letting him down. Konohamaru then thought about his closest friends, Udon and Moegi. They had always stood by him, even sometimes looked up to him. And both of them were going to pass, when he was just going to fail. They are going to go on without him, the legendary three will be no more. They've always believed in him, yet he was letting them down. Konohamaru stood up and clenched his fists. The same determined look swept across his face as when he did his first successful shadow clone technique. He bit his lip and a droplet of blood landed on his chin. Then he muttered six words that he promised not to go back on.

"I will not let anyone down…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Konoha X**

_**Part II: The Graduation Exam has arrived**_

_Beep beep beep beep… _the beeping noise thudded at Konohamaru's head and forced him out of his fretful slumber. He swung his arm wildly, wishing the noise, and the looming prospect of the Genin exam, to go away. His arm sent something flying to the floor, a loud smash was heard but the beeping didn't stop. "Crap" he muttered wondering what it was he sent to its untimely demise. Eventually he hit the source of, to him, the most annoying noise in the world. He breathed out a peaceful sigh and took a moment to savour the silence. He then pulled the cover over his head to block out the sunlight streaming through his blinds and embraced the warmth and comfort around him. Just as he was beginning to drift off once more, a loud crash was heard as someone burst into the room.

"KONOHAMARU!!" The voice screamed "You must get up it is time for your long awaited exam!"

"Yippee" He thought sarcastically "What a way to spend Saturday morning" He lay still, hoping, no praying, the man would go away…he didn't.

"KONOHAMARU! GET UP! NOW!"

Konohamaru gave a half-hearted grunt of objection before flinging the cover off himself. He shivered as the cold air bit at his half-naked body. His blurry eyes came into focus to see an enraged Ebisu standing in front of him. Ebisu had been his private trainer who became his guardian after his father died. Ebisu was slender, and had black hair that was beginning to grey. He always wore dark-rimmed glasses and a black bandana – well, when he was fully dressed. At this moment he was standing with a dressing gown on, fuming at the sight of Konohamaru still in bed.

"Did you forget you had an exam or are you just too lazy to care?" Said Ebisu angrily

"A bit of both" Konohamaru said coolly "and also I'm gonna fail"

"Don't be silly! The only way you'll fail is if you're too late - which by the way is very possible at the rate you're going!"

"Ebisu, you haven't trained me for over three years, I've kinda slipped behind."

"And why are you telling me this half an hour before your life changing exam!"

"Because I only noticed the first time I've trained in half a year… last night"

"Please tell me you're joking…"

* * *

Konohamaru walked to the arranged meeting spot with his hands dug deep into his pocket and his head hung low. Ebisu had forced him to get ready at lightning speed then show him the two techniques; an agonising and embarrassing experience that confirmed Konohamru and Ebisu's worst fears – failiure. Just as Konohamaru was at the peak of self-pity something made him snap his head up and his thoughts back to reality. In the corner of his eye he saw a flash of black hurtling towards him, making his trained reactions kick in. He jumped to the left and flung his head out of the way. Despite his efforts the anonymous kunai just scraped his right cheek leaving a bloody scratch across his face. Adrenaline was now pumping around his body and he was on full alert. He clenched his fists and scanned the surrounding area looking for any sign of a threat. "_Why is someone attacking me?" _He thought baffled and scared. Suddenly, an arm forced its way around his neck and he felt a cold, steel blade touch the bottom of his chin.

"A ninja must always be on guard" A voice whispered in his ear. The tight grip then released and a fit of laughter broke the tension. Konohamaru spun round to face his attacker.

"UDON!!" He screamed in anger. The young boy before him was rolling on the floor in uncontrollable laughter.

"You should have seen your face! Ha ha!" Udon said before gasping for breath, then returning to his previous state of mad laughter.

"I'm not in the mood Udon."

"What's up?" Udon said, who had now stopped laughing and was beginning to feel a bit bad. "Are you not excited about the exam?"

"No, far from" Konohamaru said solemnly. Udon just stared at him blankly. "I'm gonna fail, Udon!"

"What! I thought 'the great' Konohamaru didn't do failure!"

"Well I do now. Failure's now kinda my thing."

"Are you not prepared?"

"Not at all"

"Why not?"

"What do you mean why not! Because I haven't trained, because I lost desire, because I forgot what I really needed!"

"You messed up, eh?"

"I messed up. I really messed up."

"Well what are we gonna do?"

"What do you mean 'we'?"

"You don't seriously think me and Moegi are just gonna let you fail, do you?"

"What else can you do, I'm not gonna drag you two down with me."

"I have a plan!" A voice said from behind them. They both turned in unison, startled. The girl with the plan was Moegi, who was standing before them with her red hair bunched in two long pigtails and her sweet smile softening Konohamaru's worry. "I'm guessing we changed the meeting spot then!"

"Sorry" Konohamaru mumbled "We just kinda got caught up in how I'm gonna fail and all that."

"As I said before, I have a plan." Moegi declared again, proudly.

"Go on…" Udon said

"Well the thing is, Konohamaru cannot do it, but I can!" Moegi said

"Feel free to rub it in!" Said Konohamaru, sarcastically

"Think about the criteria! I can't just transform into the Hokage, I can transform into you! And while I'm you I can do the techniques required!" Moegi continued, a smile growing on her face.

"You can do both techniques and still stay in the form of me!?"

"Just about, I tried it last!"

"Do you really think it will work!?"

"It's either that or you do it yourself…"

"Well, seems like that's the only way!"

* * *

The three academy students walked together towards the looming building ahead of them. The dreaded exam that Moegi was looking forward to so much this morning now seemed like the last thing she wanted to put herself through. _Why are you putting yourself in jeopardy like this? _She thought to herself _Because he's your lifelong friend and you owe it to him…also it wouldn't be the same without him. Anyway, it will work…hopefully. _She reasoned to her more cautious, and sensible, conscience. She looked at Konohamaru – he'd really grown. He was tall and had broad shoulders. His chin had widened and he was beginning to get wisps of hair under his nose. Despite this he still had his cheeky grin and his eyes were still full of awe and innocence. She loved the way he looked at her, like she was the best thing in the world. She longed to tell him that she wanted him, but she knew that he saw her as just a friend. She then looked at Udon. He was so sweet, and she was really glad she was his friend. Unlike Konohamaru, Udon looked young for his age and was smaller and thinner. On the good side however, this made him quicker and more agile. His brown hair was immaculately brushed into curtains and his round-rimmed glasses looked funny perched on top of his button nose. She knew he had a crush on her but she just didn't feel the same way – she saw him much more like a younger brother than anything else. Lost in her dream world, Moegi failed to notice that she'd now reached the exam entrance hall. A shrill voice snapped her back to reality.

"Ah, finally you three have arrived! It's good of you to honour us with your presence but you really must hurry along now, we're behind schedule!" The kunoichi was new and moved to Konoha from the village of sound. Her main technique was to use her singing to confuse people or to just simply deafen them into submission. She was fat and had long, black, greasy hair. Her voice was possibly the most annoying in the world and all the academy students hated her as she forced them to sing nursery rhymes and hymns – even the twelve year olds. She was obsessed with everything progressing in an orderly manner and could not stand being behind schedule. Her name was Hanari Narcissa "You're up next Moegi! Come come, quick quick!"

Moegi turned to face her two comrades who each gave her sympathetic smiles and the thumbs up sign. She exhaled slowly before stepping through the huge, intimidating doors before her. When she was inside everything went smoothly. She greeted the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, and the two senior Jounin, Maito Gai and Hatake Kakashi, before giving them her name and candidate number. She then perfectly performed the shadow clone technique and the transformation technique. Unsurprisingly she passed, but she decided to pretend to be surprised and overjoyed anyway – this was mainly to disguise her real emotions which were filled with angst and dread. She burst out the double doors and screamed "I passed!" partly to show-off to the other students and partly to remain unsuspicious to Narcissa.

"Well done! O.K it's you next Udon! HURRY!" Hanari Narcissa shrieked. Her cheeks were red and flustered and her face looked like it was going to explode.

"No rush Udon" Hatake Kakashi said coolly, as he stepped out of the exam hall.

"But Kakashi we are behind schedule as it is!" Narcissa cried – this turn of events made her go into ultra-panic mode.

"Don't worry Narcissa, I'm just getting some fresh air!" Kakashi sighed attempting to ignore the woman freaking out beside him. "What happened Konohamaru, are you alright?" Konohamru, who had no idea what Kakashi was talking about, just shrugged his shoulders. After a few seconds Kakashi could no longer stand the psychotic woman next to him and went back inside the hall, taking Udon with him.

"O.K, now's our chance for me to change into you" Moegi whispered to Konohamaru "Hopefully Udon will take his time"

"Thanks a lot for doing this by the way"

"It's alright, let's just hope it works!"

* * *

Konohamaru crouched behind a wall at the far side outside of the hall sweating with nerves and anticipation. _Please say she doesn't get found out, please._

In the hall, an almost perfect clone of him was giving his/her name and candidate number.

"Can you please perform the first technique, the shadow clone technique." Tsunade said formally.

Moegi, as Konohamaru, did the best she could to do both the shadow clone technique and hold her disguised form. To her relief, she did it well.

"Well done that was excellent. Can you now perform the second technique, the transformation technique."

Now this was the tricky one. She somehow had to change from her transformed form into a different transformed form without returning to her normal state in between. She had found this really difficult the night before and had failed many times. "HENGA!" she shouted as she attempted to perform the impossible. By the look on the three judges faces she'd managed to pull it off. Her stomach was doing somersaults.

"Well that was pretty good, definitely pass standard, so I shall award you with…"

"Hang on" Kakashi interrupted. Moegi froze and her heart started beating so fast it felt like it was going to burst. "What happened to the scratch on your face?" Just like that, the realisation hit Moegi hard, straight in the face. She had forgotten about the mark on Konohamaru's cheek Udon had made earlier this morning, Kakashi must have seen it when he came out for air.

"Umm…err…it healed…" Moegi stuttered

"Kakashi, are you suggesting…" Instead of finishing her sentence Tsunade made various hand seals then shouted the word "DISPEL!" A 'poof' sound was heard and a cloud of smoke was left where Moegi was standing. As the smoke cleared all that was left was an extremely embarrassed red-haired girl staring into the eyes of an extremely angry Hokage.


	3. Chapter 3

**Konoha X**

_**Part III: The Jounin exam begins and the Udon-Kono-Mo formation is born!**_

The three teenagers – two of them still academy students, one of them now a Genin – sat in silence, reflecting miserably on the days events. The sun was high in the sky and the sounds of celebration could be heard in the distance. These three were certainly not celebrating. It was only an hour until Udon had to go and meet the other new Genins, but it was the last thing he felt like doing.

"KONOHAMARU!" A familiar voice shouted, breaking the silence. Konohamaru groaned, instantly recognising the voice. A crop of spiky blonde emerged from behind the hill. This hair then grew into a tall, athletic body wearing an orange and black jacket. A huge grin took up most of his face, he obviously hadn't heard the news. "Konohamaru! Sorry I didn't see you before the exam, I've just got back from a mission!"

"Which mission?" Konohamaru asked, trying to divert the conversation away from the exam.

"Oh nothing, just an escort mission. Nothing happened." Uzumaki Naruto said dismissively "how did the exam go!?"

The dreaded question. "Umm…err…" Konohamaru stammered beginning to go red

"Udon passed. Me and Kono cheated, then got found out. So we both failed." Moegi finished for him. Naruto just stared at them open mouthed. A few seconds passed until he fully registered, this was then followed with

"KONOHAMARU!!" This time it was not said in a 'good to see you' way, rather in a 'I can't believe you' way. "Why? How? Tsunade must have killed you…"

"Moegi pretended to be me because I couldn't do it. And yeah, Tsunade killed us, she really killed us." Konohamaru said staring at the ground. He was ashamed and embarrassed. He had already had to tell Ebisu, but he didn't care what Ebisu said. Naruto was the person he was dreading telling most.

"What did she say?"

"She said that just because I have the name 'Sarutobi' it does not excuse me from cheating."

"And she said to me that she was impressed with my ability but cheating is still cheating" Moegi added

"But worst of all she said we could never take the exam again!"

"Konohamaru…" Naruto said shaking his head. This time it was said in 'I'm disappointed in you' way, the way Konohamaru wanted the least. "Well I'm sure she'll go back on her word of saying you can never do it again, so you'll just have to be prepared for next time." Naruto's face transformed back into a grin, but this time more sympathetically than happily.

"I can't believe we got found out!" Moegi said plunging her head into her hands "And I've still got to tell my dad!"

"Well to tell you the truth" Naruto said "I didn't pass my exam either…" The three Genin's all looked up in surprise

"What did you do!?" Konohamaru was the first to ask the question they all wanted to. He loved to hear Naruto's stories ever since he was seven years old.

"Well, I couldn't do either technique so I failed. But then I got tricked into stealing a forbidden scroll by this psychotic guy called Mizuki. I then learnt a technique from the scroll and used that technique to save my sensei from the psychotic guy that tricked me into stealing the scroll in the first place!" Naruto finished, grinning. His audience, the three teenagers, were stunned in silence. Konohamaru was the first to speak

"So does anyone know of any forbidden scrolls and/or psychotic guys?!"

* * *

"Sorry I'm late!" Naruto cried slamming into the classroom at full speed.

"Good of you to join us Naruto, I was just about to expel you from the exam" Hatake Kakashi said, looking over his notes. Naruto grumbled something under his breath then went to sit down at the only free seat in the class. The free seat was next to the kunoichi Hyuuga Hinata. She had long black hair and was getting prettier with age. Naruto never really talked to Hinata because she was very timid and shy, yet he had shared some missions with her in the passed and was impressed by her ability. She had large white eyes and cute features, that at the moment seemed to be growing very red.

"Are you alright Hinata-chan?" Naruto inquired, noticing the extent of her redness. Hinata just nodded and grew even redder, not able to speak as she was so close to Naruto. Naruto scanned the area to see anyone he knew. The first person he saw was Rock Lee, with his fuzzy eyebrows and bowl hair-cut. Lee was now incredible at Taijutsu and looked and acted like his sensei, Maito Gai, more and more every day. The next person he spotted was Inuzuka Kiba, who stood out as he had two red stripes across his face and he went everywhere with his dog, Akamaru. Kiba was Naruto's best friend and had been ever since Sasuke left.

"As I have already told the whole class, Naruto, this exam is to select ten ninjas who are fit to be team-leaders. There shall be ten scrolls hidden in the forest and after two and a half days and two nights each ninja that has a scroll shall be award with team-leader status, subsequently making them progress from Special Jounin to _actual _Jounin. There are ten ninjas who taking the exam for the first time and ten ninjas who are retaking it. Now remember, half of you will fail!"

Naruto swallowed hard, he hated exams set in forests. The last one had lost him his best-friend…

"Now then, there is more" Kakashi continued "The class shall be put into pairs. In order for each person in the pair to pass you must obtain two scrolls. If you only manage to get one, only one of you will pass. You may not fight your partner! Now the pairs are…"

_Oh great, _Naruto thought _almost three days with a stranger_

"Firstly we have, Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo" This was followed by a cry of 'yes' from the two partners "Next we have…"

Naruto switched off. He was sure his partner would find him.

About five minutes later, someone softly and timidly touched him on the arm. Naruto looked down to see a red-faced Hyuuga Hinata looking up at him.

"N-N-Naruto-chan. We a-are p-partners" Hinata stammered.

"Huh?" Naruto replied drowsily. He must have drifted off.

"M-me and y-you, we a-are p-partners" She repeated.

"Oh, that's, err, great…" Naruto said _This is gonna be a long 3 days _he thought. He looked around to see who else he knew that had been paired up. There was Lee and Kiba, Aburame Shino and Tenten, Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru.

"I expect to see you all ready, in exactly one hour. And if you are late, Naruto, we shall start without you." Hatake Kakashi said before dismissing the class "Oh, and Hinata…"

"Hmm" She said eager to get the exam started

"I'm sorry about your pairing, you drew the short straw."

* * *

Maito Gai lay down on the grass with his hands behind his head. He was staring at the clouds, daydreaming about how he'd maintained his eyebrows to perfection and what the latest hair product was to buy. _Oh man, how I love enjoying my youth _He thought to himself. He breathed in, letting the lovely, fresh air flow through his lungs and reenergise his body. Just as he was thinking how great life was, a kunai struck the ground, inches from his head. He sprung up in surprise and immediately got into his trained fighting stance. He looked down at the kunai, but it had dissolved into a pile of sand.

"Sand…" He muttered to himself. Just then five more kunai hurtled out from behind the trees towards him. He tried to move out the way but realised his feet and ankles had been locked to the ground by sand. He pulled out a kunai of his own and smashed each one into piles of sand, protecting his body. _Well I definitely was not expecting this, this morning _He thought to himself. _I could scream but I doubt anyone will hear me, every Jounin and special Jounin is preparing for the exam and this guy doesn't seem like something a Genin, probably not even a Chuunin, could take._

"No time to lose concentration" A deep voice from somewhere within the surrounding trees said, snapping Gai back to the battle. Three kunai shot out at him again, this time to his left side. Straight away, another three shot out to his right side, and another three to his front and back side. Without his legs, Gai was useless. Either this guy knew it, or he just got lucky. Gai tried in vain to block all twelve kunai, but without even being able to turn it was almost a hopeless cause. He managed to prevent nine from hitting him, but two slammed into his back and one in his right side. He screamed out in agony and tried desperately to release his ankles. The sand was too tight, and what was making it harder was that the sand was creeping further up his legs.

"Is this the extent of Konoha Jounin" The voice mocked "I really was expecting more!"

_What am I going to do!? _Gai thought desperately

* * *

"AAAAAAAHH!" Someone screamed in pain, not that far away.

"There! I heard another one!" Moegi exclaimed "This way!" Moegi, Konohamaru and Udon had decided to walk to their favourite place, the ridge just outside of the Hokage's wall. It looked out over the whole village and Konohamaru often went there to reflect on his thoughts. Naruto had showed it him just after his dad died. Konohamaru loved that place, and he'd decided that they all needed to go up there and think about their future. During the walk up there, they were all silent, as they had been for most of the day. They were lost in a world of their own. Konohamaru had planned to spend all day kicking litter, wallowing in his self-pity and just generally moping. Refreshingly, he found himself rigorously training. It took him a lot of time to get back into the harsh expectation of a ninja's training, but he could feel himself improving by the minute. His whole body was both grateful and screaming in pain at the same time, and his mind had rediscovered its passion – a passion Konohamaru had stupidly let slip. Udon had just got back from his meeting, he'd been told that he wasn't going to find out who his team-mates or Sensei were going to be for three days while the selection process took place. This made all the new Genins disappointed and annoyed, all but one. Udon was elated by this news seeing it as a sign that Moegi and Konohamaru would somehow pass, and even if they didn't, he was dreading going to the new school and taking part in missions without them, so the more delayed the better. Moegi on the other hand was more depressed than when she first found out. She had just got back from telling her dad, who went mental and threatened to chuck her out the house. He screamed and shouted various insults varying from "you're useless" too "I'm so disappointed it's beyond belief". The one that got her most though was "I knew you weren't your sister". Moegi's sister was kidnapped five years ago by the hidden village of Fire, she was an excellent ninja and the gem of the family. She was presumed dead, and to her Mother and Father's outrage, written off. Ever since then Moegi has been resented, almost as though it should have been her that was kidnapped. What made it worse was Moegi's talent for Fire jutsu, she managed to learn the phoenix flower jutsu before she'd even reached double figures. Her mother never really spoke to her, in fact since her sisters kidnapping, her mother never really spoke to anyone but to herself. She pretends that her eldest daughter is still alive and forgets that her youngest daughter, the one who is still alive, ever existed. Her father only ever spoke to be rude, all anger and frustration that gets built up inside him is vented on Moegi. So this failure just topped everything off. While they were walking up, Konohamaru saw Moegi cry for the first time. Silent tears washed over her face, all the hurt and pain she constantly tries to suppress filled each tear drop. Her brave façade was so broken it was though it was never there and all that was left was an uncared for innocence and enough sadness to break someone's heart. While she was crying Konohamaru and Udon remained silent, this may seem harsh but they all knew it was the kindest thing they could've done.

Half way to their destination they heard a scream. It was coming from the woods just outside the village centre. They decided to check it out, not knowing the extent that their help was needed. The scream they just heard was the third in a row and it was getting louder, and more despairing.

"Come on" Konohamaru said "Let's hurry up, I'm not sure this guy is gonna last." The other two ninjas silently agreed and they picked up there pace, speeding towards the helpless Jounin and his sand manipulating torturer.

* * *

The sand ninja smiled to himself. He stared at his victim; he was bloody and tired. He'd endlessly tried to prevent being hit, but couldn't stop every sand kunai, although he had manage to protect all his vital organs. His wounds were fresh and stinging madly because of the sand getting in them. Sand was now wrapped all around his waist and he was immovably bound to the ground. _I cannot believe this man is called a Jounin! _The ninja laughed to himself, smugly reflecting on how easily he'd captured him. _It's time to finish him off!_

Just as he was planning his final blow he saw a kunai hurtle towards his face. He launched himself to the left, dodging death. The kunai slammed into a tree quite far behind him, sticking to the trunk.

"If you think randomly chucking…" The ninja began but was interrupted by a shout

"UDON!" Cried a boy's voice. The ninja looked up to see a boy of about twelve, armed with a single kunai, fly towards him. He dived to the right, but was too surprised to counter. The boy flew past him and carried on running, he stuck the kunai into the same tree trunk the other kunai was stuck into. The sand ninja felt a wire pull him into the trunk behind him. The purpose of the young boy was not to attack the ninja but to immobilise him with the use of two kunais and some trip wire. Both kunais were stuck to a tree trunk behind the trunk that the ninja was trapped to and they were both attached to the same piece of wire. This formed a tight loop that pulled the sand ninja, against his will, to the closest tree trunk. His back was pressed against the trunk and his feet were off the ground – he was caught.

"If you think some measly wire can hold me back then…" The ninja was interrupted again by another shout

"MOEGI!" Cried a girl's voice. The young girl was standing next to the source of the wire. She formed the tiger seal with her hands and pressed them against the wire. A furious blast off fire spouted from her lips, igniting the wire. The sand ninja, who was now panicked, desperately tried to form an edge with his sand that was sharp enough to cut him free. The fire sped down the wire at an incredible speed, forced along by Moegi's burning breath. Udon could feel the heat against his body _I would not like to fight her _he thought. Just as the flames reached the end of the wire and were about to burst through the trunk that was holding the ninja, the wire snapped. The sand ninja had managed to build up enough force in his sand to break the wire, just in time.

"Ha, I won't be defeated that…" He was interrupted _again _by, yes, another shout

"KONOHAMARU!" Cried an energetic boy's voice. The sand ninja looked up in surprise. He found himself facing a young boy's knee hurtling towards him. It slammed into his face, smashing his nose into pieces. Blood flooded out of his nostrils, splattering Konohamaru's trousers with red. Konohamaru had launched himself towards the ninja and smacked him with such force the ninja was now flying through the air. The sand ninja's almost unconscious body slammed into the burning tree he was just trapped to. The tree had been severely weakened by the fire and the impact caused it too topple forward. The ninja let out a cry of anguish as his spine broke under the weight of the tree that had just crashed into him. His skin and clothes were being singed and the flames were ripping apart his flesh. The weight of the trunk was crushing his bones and compressed his lungs – he was defeated.

Konohamaru looked down at his bloody shorts _My first proper fight _he thought dreamily. He looked up at the two ninjas who were coming towards him from within the woods and smiled at them. They smiled back. He put his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky, letting the warm sun wash over him. For the first time in so long he felt truly proud. He smiled to himself, _Now this is something Naruto would have done!

* * *

_

Gai desperately tried to force his legs from the binding sand clasped against his body. The kunais had stopped coming and the pain was beginning to ease. He wretched and his whole body shook - never before had he been so sure of his death. Well, that was before he heard the cries of his three rescuers. He had frantically tried to see the action but was denied by the trees blocking his view. All he had managed to see was a burst of flames and smoke and a splash of blood. This only intrigued him more and now not only did he think it was his funeral but the three young ninja's funeral also. He may not have been able to see but he managed to hear every detail; he heard the three dramatic entrances of his brave but stupid saviours, he heard the burning of flesh and breaking of bone, and he heard the screams of shock and anguish echo around the forest. He'd tried using gate opening but the sand was too tight, also his chakra was low because he had just returned from a mission earlier that day. He just had to wait for the inevitable. He could not believe he had dragged those three down also, he had never felt so useless and helpless before. He buried his head in his hands and thought of his options. Just then the sand holding him down began to crumble away. The tight bonds sticking it all together released and the soft substance sank to an unthreatening pile around his body. A sense of elation and disbelief filled Gai's head. He became almost dizzy with happiness, but only for a second. He quickly realised he didn't have any time to lose. He tore at full speed towards the Genin and the sand ninja; eager for revenge and filled with hope that he would make it in time.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" He cried as he flew in from nowhere, stylishly landing in the middle of the action. Well he would have if there was any action. To his disbelief all he saw was three young ninjas with broad grins stretching across their faces and a half-dead ninja in agony under the weight of a burning tree. He stared open mouthed not being able to believe what he was seeing _They managed to beat someone who almost killed me! _He thought in pure shock. Eventually, some of his shock turned into ironic laughter. He was partly because of how surreal the situation was and partly over the enjoyment and satisfaction of seeing his torturer getting a much deserved torturing.

The three ninja's looked at each other in confusion. After their hard work the last thing they expected was their half-dead Sensei to burst out laughing.

"Have we fallen for a trick or something?" Konohamaru was the first to speak.

"No, no" Maito Gai said suddenly calming down. He seemed quite embarrassed "It's just I think it's quite ironic that two people I failed yesterday have just saved my life. Not really a laughing matter, I know, sorry."

"O.K, well then we'll just go." Moegi said. The others agreed and they began to leave.

"No wait! I must commend you on well you fought." Gai shouted after them. The three ninja's stopped and turned to face him "He was a very strong opponent and I would find it hard to accept a group of Chuunins beating him, let alone one Genin and two academy students. And because of this, I feel as though maybe the wrong decision was made on your exam results. It is my understanding that you can be awarded Genin status on two things. Firstly and most obviously passing the exam, and secondly on an incredible act of bravery…"

"So what are you saying?"

"Well that was certainly an incredible act of bravery!"


End file.
